


Life Is But A Dream

by Megalon



Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2013-06-20
Packaged: 2017-12-15 14:47:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/850773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megalon/pseuds/Megalon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time has been unkind to the members of Weiss, and things are about to get more interesting than any of them ever imagined.  Can relationships bud in such circumstances, or will their time finally come?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Little Things

Yohji walked in the door from his date that night, feeling very good about himself. It had gone really well and it had been a while since he'd actually had sex. The house was dark, meaning that everyone was most likely in bed. The small light in the living room was always on, so Yohji didn't really think much about it as he walked past. After getting a glass of water, he went in the living room to sit down, but paused upon seeing the form on the sofa.  
Aya was on his side, his face buried in the back of the sofa, a book lying on the floor. The light sounds of sleep filled the air as Yohji smiled. It was a very rare thing to catch Aya completely unguarded. Now that he thought about, this was probably only the third time he had seen him sleeping. The man needed the rest though, if the dark circles under his eyes were any indication. Aya was wearing a soft white t-shirt and long, grey pajama pants. He was also wearing his reading glasses, which was a definitely turn on to Yohji. On his feet were a pair of white socks.  
Even in his sleep, Aya was breathtaking. However, Yohji knew that trying to get anywhere with the man would be pointless, not to mention stupid. Thinking about it, though, made Yohji feel all fuzzy inside. He would give just about anything to see what Aya was really like underneath that thick shell. Seeing him truly smile was something that Yohji had yet to see which, he thought, was kind of sad.  
Aya shifted slightly, inadvertently hitting the remote, turning the television on. He shot up, startled by the sudden noise, his glasses slightly crooked on his face. He looked at Yohji sitting on the oversized armchair across from him, then the TV. He continued to stare at the TV and the movie that was playing.  
Yohji chuckled to himself, getting a kick out of the vulnerability that he was witnessing. Aya looked at Yohji again, proceeding to straiten his glasses, his eyes then flickering to the clock, which read 3:00 a.m.  
"Did you just get home?" Aya inquired. "Umm… yeah," Yohji said, slightly surprised by the sudden question.  
Aya looked right into his eyes.  
"There is a mission tomorrow night," Aya stated, standing up. "Just so you know."  
Yohji sighed, finishing off his water and standing up as well. "You just made my night Fujimiya," Yohji said, beginning his walk up the steps. "Goodnight."  
"'Hn " Aya said in turn, as he nodded lightly.  
When Yohji got to his room, he stripped himself of his clothing and lay down in the bed. He found himself thinking about the exhausted look in Aya's eyes, even as he began to fall fast asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Mission complete," Ken said.  
That's when noises started coming over the comm, almost like sounds of pain and struggle; perhaps it was moaning as well. "Abyssinian, is that from your end?" Yohji asked. No answer.  
Something could be heard through the comm, as if someone was struggling.  
"Dammit!" Ken cursed over the mic. "Why do we have to save him?"  
"Almost to your location Abyssinian, hold tight," Yohji said, wanting to smack Ken for what he had said.  
"Che," Ken said.  
Ken and Yohji ran as fast as they could, finally reaching Aya. Upon entering the area from where the noise was coming, they saw one huge guy on their teammate and two corpses lying around the tiny room. The corpses, they noticed, were wiggling.  
Ken and Yohji looked at each other, taking in the surrealism of the situation. Then they were aware of Aya struggling for breath. He was extremely bloodied and bruised, his clothing clinging to his body from all the blood.  
As Yohji was about to use his wire on the large 'man' currently choking his comrade, Aya shook his head, his eyes full of anguish and fear. "Run," was all that Aya could manage to gasp out through the hands around his throat.  
That's when Yohji got a really good look at the guy strangling Aya and the ones around him. The one trying to crush the redhead's windpipe looked dead and was blue in color. The air was heavy with the scent of decay; the smell of corpses. Yohji felt as if he was about to vomit.  
Not wanting to waste another second, Ken ran towards the creature and slashed its back. It stopped looking at Aya, turning around to face Ken and beginning to come towards him. Ken slashed and tore at it, but the creature continued to move steadily forward. Not knowing what else to do, Yohji grabbed the thing around its neck with his wire. Upon seeing Aya's bloodied katana lying on the ground, he picked it up with one hand, and not so gracefully, chopped the creature's head off. It continued to move, but now at least, it could not go anywhere.  
"What the fuck," Ken said softly, a look of pure horror on his face. Yohji went to Aya's side immediately.  
"Shit," Yohji said, feeling a surge of panic. "I'm not getting a pulse!" The look on his face reflected the pain he was suddenly feeling inside "Damnit, no! Not again! Not like this!"  
There was blood all over Aya and around him as well. It was seeping through Yohji's pants as he kneeled beside the fallen man. The blood had stopped flowing from his mouth, but his arm was lying at a weird angle. Yohji gritted his teeth, tears filling his eyes.  
"We have to get him out of here," Yohji said. Yohji could feel shock setting in, the telltale shaking all over his body making the carrying of a limp and lifeless Aya a particularly difficult task. Compounding his problems was a very bloodthirsty Ken 'helping' him while looking at Aya wide-eyed and crazy the entire time. Finally reaching Yohji's car, they immediately called Kritiker's doctors, letting them know they were on their way.


	2. Sweet Dreams

Five hours had passed since the doctors had started working on Aya. Yohji and Ken sat in the waiting room waiting to hear any news. The room was damp and cold, feeling more like a prison cell to Yohji, with there being nothing to occupy his frizzled mind.  
At last, one of the doctors walked out of the trauma room.  
"He'll be ok. But honestly, from the looks of his wounds, I really have no idea how he made it out alive," the doctor said, pulling out a cigarette and walking the two Weiss members to the door. "We'll bring him out to your car; just make sure you put him to bed as soon as he's home.. check in on him so he doesn't die, you know the drill."  
When the doctors carried Aya out to the car, he was so pale as to appear dead. The bruising around his collarbone and lower neck was extreme, reaching to his Adam's apple in several shades of purple and blue. There were also a number of other cuts and bruises, the white bandages taking most of the attention away from them. His head was covered in bandages as well; his dark red hair still caked with blood, making it look even darker. On his arm there was a bright white cast, extending to mid bicep. Yohji gripped his steering wheel hard, closing his eyes against the feelings welling up in him. Seeing Aya in such a state hurt, a lot more than it should. The pervasive silence on the way home was something for which Yohji was very grateful.

  
After they got Aya up to his bed, Ken immediately went to sleep. Yohji, on the other hand, stayed in Aya's room. He couldn't stop staring at the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on. For some reason, Aya looked even more beautiful in his injured state. The dark bruising marring him stuck out like a sore thumb against his normally flawless skin. He had a light sheen of sweat on his body and his brows were furrowed in pain. His breathing hitched here and there, still fighting against unseen hands. Yohji moved dark red bangs away from the man's forehead and, after pulling the blankets up further, he turned, about to leave. He stopped when he saw Aya's eyes open slowly. The look in those eyes was so sleepy and full of pain at that moment, that Yohji thought he was imagining it.

  
"How're you feeling?" Yohji inquired with a soft smile.  
Aya snickered, never smiling, closing his eyes again. "I'll survive," was the rasped reply.  
"Good," Yohji said, feeling his night beginning to catch up to him. "You need anything before I hit the sac?"  
Aya shook his head, his clammy, sticky skin worrying Yohji.  
"Damn, Ayan... you don't look good," Yohji said, still smiling, but feeling his insides twist at the same time. Yohji realized he was scared. Losing Aya, or even Ken, was something he knew he wouldn't handle well. Especially Aya. "Thanks," Aya said, smirking slightly, his hoarse voice barely audible. Yohji gently laid his hand on Aya's forehead. The man did indeed have a fever.  
"I'll be right back," Yohji said, going down to the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water and some pills. When he got back to the room, Aya was staring at the ceiling, his blinking eyes being the only indication that he was even alive. "Here, take these," Yohji ordered. Without even a glance, Aya sat up the best he could, taking the pills. "Well... goodnight," Yohji said again, knowing that offering him anything else would be pointless.  
Yohji had one hand on the door.  
"Wh--," Aya started. Yohji stopped and looked at him curiously; expectant, hopeful. "What were those things?" Aya asked, his look hollow.  
Yohji felt his heart fall. "I don't know," Yohji answered, turning out Aya's light. "Just try to get some rest."  
"'Night, Yohji," Aya said and Yohji shut the door. It was a rare thing for Aya to use any of their names, simply because it was never necessary. But, when Aya used his name for something as simple as a goodnight, it made Yohji very happy. As he stripped his clothing and lay in bed, he thought it was kind of funny how he would get excited over something as simple as Aya saying his name. What was he? In high school?


	3. Mind Games

 

It was noon (and a week later), Yohji just feeling the need to get out of bed. When he finally did, he went into his absurdly small bathroom and took a very warm, relaxing shower. After getting dressed, Yohji stepped out of his room and his stomach growled loudly. Arriving in the kitchen, he found Aya sitting at the table with a glass of water. He was dressed and looking considerably better than when the blond had last seen him. "Yo, you're actually up?! It's probably the first time since then!" Yohji said, looking in the fridge and seeing it being completely empty except for a moldy bowl of left over stew. "Dammit, there's nothing to eat!" Yohji slumped into a chair at the table, the energy he had when he woke up suddenly gone.  
"I'm going to get lunch. You want anything?" Aya asked. He was wearing comfortable jeans, and a creamy, long sleeve button up shirt. It wasn't buttoned all the way, exposing his bruising. At that moment, Aya was sliding his arms into a brown jacket, which served to hide it well, his broken arm barely noticeable under the sleeves. With his hair just a little below his ears and choppy, Yohji decided he liked mature Aya much better than he liked 'eartail' Aya. 'Damn' Yohji thought 'He looks sexy'.

  
"Yeah, just whatever though... I'm not picky," Yohji said nonchalantly, realizing he was checking Aya out a little too openly.  
Aya didn't say another word as he walked out the door, keys in hand. Yohji knew that the redhead had to still be in pain, and he even walked with a slight hitch. He envied him, in a way, because had it been him, his housemates would likely know each and every pain he had.

 

 

  
The whole day went rather slowly after that. Aya went back to sleep after lunch, Ken came home all happy and excited from his motorcycle ride, and Yohji went out for a while to clear his mind of recent events. He found himself going to a coffee shop, one that he hadn't been to in some time. While there, he ran into an old acquaintance and a very beautiful one at that. They drank coffee and went for a long walk through the park across the street.

  
"So, have anyone you love yet?" Miaka inquired, looking at Yohji with her bright brown eyes. Yohji smiled. "I love everyone, it's impossible to choose just one!"  
Miaka laughed. "Come on! Are you telling me there's not one person you find yourself thinking about before you fall asleep at night?"  
Yohji thought about that for a moment, laughing to himself. "Of course there is," he replied, giving Miaka a flirtatious smile, "but it's a secret."  
Miaka smiled back at him. "Secret, huh? I'll tell you what," she began, biting her lower lip, "How about we go back to my place, and I try my best to learn of this mysterious love?" Yohji smirked, knowing he could never refuse an offer like that.

 

It was about 7:00 pm when Yohji came home to the TV blasting a video game that Ken was happily playing.  
"Hey Ken!" Yohji yelled over the volume of the game, smiling nonetheless. He was feeling a lot better after his wonderful afternoon with Miaka, Aya the furthest thing from his mind.  
"Hey," Ken yelled back, dazed by the pretty moving pictures on the screen.  
"What do you say to getting nice and drunk tonight? My treat!" Yohji said, holding up 2 packs of bottled beer.  
"I would say, 'ok'," Ken answered, taking the beer that Yohji had offered to him. Yohji sat down next to him, grabbing the second player controller "It's been a while, so cut me some slack!" Yohji said, grinning.  
"Like that is going to happen? Dream on, Yohji-kun!" Ken said, returning Yohji's grin.  
"Where's Aya?" Yohji asked, looking around curiously as he took his first glug of beer.  
Ken shrugged. "He left not long ago... don't know where to though. You know how he is, not a word."

 

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Aya was walking through an alleyway, almost home from his evening of walking around aimlessly. It was a beautiful night, the fall wind slightly chilly and the sky completely black except for the moon, which was shining brightly. Aya hugged his coat tighter around himself when he felt a knife being held to his throat.

  
"If I killed you right now, I am sure no one would grieve," Schuldig said, smirking as he waited for any sort of reaction out of Aya. He received none as Aya stood there, a blank and apathetic look on his face. 'How did I not feel his presence?' Aya thought to himself, wondering if this life was finally getting to him. Weakness was not afforded in this line of work.  
"Realizing that your existence isn't worth fighting for?" the German sneered. The knife began to sink deeper into Aya's skin. "Of course, someone who cannot protect the most important thing to them IS pretty pathetic," Schuldig snickered. "You couldn't even save poor Bombay, just sat there and watched..."

  
"If you are going to kill me, just do it," Aya said, his eyes closed and voice monotone, devoid of any emotion. Honestly, it was the complete truth coming from his mouth... Aya knew that he would not even struggle against the German.

  
"Oh?" Schuldig quipped with a smile. He knew that killing Aya would only be doing the swordsman a favor at that moment. "Today is your lucky day" Schuldig said, grinning "I am only here to deliver a message". Aya's eyes looked sidelongly at Schuldig now, and the man looked at him in turn, stepping away so that there was reasonable distance, but still looking at each others faces.

Schuldig whistled after taking in Aya's condition "Those zombies really did a number on you, Ran-nii". Feeling irritated, Aya wondered exactly what the message was, but before he could speak up, Schuldig pulled a folder out of his coat, tossing it towards Aya. Aya just stood there, glancing at the folder, and then at Schuldig. "This information is important to your current case" Schuldig said simply. Suddenly, Aya felt Schuldig enter his head, and the feeling was something that immeditely made him wince. He didn't remember it feeling that way before when Schuldig went inside his head, but then again, it had definitely been a while. It almost felt like somebody walking on top of him with heavy boots; before it was barely a tap. Upon looking at Schuldig, he saw that the man looked immensly surprised.

  
'Interesting...' Schuldig thought 'I can't gather a single thought from him'.

  
"Why exactly" Aya said, having trouble fuctioning while Schuldig was trying to get inside his head "Should we trust information that you are giving?"  
"Why not" Schuldig said, wanting to kill the man, but knowing it would do nothing but make Crawford angry. Fujimiya's aura was different than the last time they met, and he wanted to see blood pour from his pretty mouth. He tried a little harder to enter Aya's head, and was awarded when Aya fell to his knees, blood trickling from his nose. He laughed a little, breaking off his venture, and immeditely retreating.

  
Aya sat on his knees silently, not quite knowing what else to do. He came back to his senses, staring at the manilla folder laying on the ground in front of him. He knew that Schuldig was right. Aya-chan had died and not by natural causes. In the end, he hadn't been able protect her from himself. Even Omi, whom he had considered a friend, couldn't be saved from being mauled to death by the same creature that killed Aya-chan.. To make it worse, Aya wasn't even sure what killed them. Aya was tired of living, of feeling as if he was having a very boring, never-ending dream. The days crawled by, the pain of existing just sitting on his chest. When would it finally be his time?  
He shook his head out of the self loathing funk, picking up the folder in front of him. He spat a little of the blood out of his mouth, pulling a cloth out of his pocket and wiping his nose. That was something new... was it possible that Schuldig was unable to read his thoughts?


	4. 3:00am

Yohji was sitting on the sofa when Aya walked in, Ken passed out and snoring lightly on the floor. He was happy, the beer being his savior during the time he had been home. Seeing Aya again sobered him up a bit. Aya, however, smelled the beer and knew that things wouldn't be as simple as going strait up to his room, like he planned.

  
"Yo." Yohji smiled as he looked at Aya. "Out on a hot date?" Yohji's grin went ear to ear, like a very happy cat.  
"No," was Aya's very simple and quiet reply as he took off his boots and limped into the kitchen for a drink, his mind fuddled with thoughts. Yohji got up with a grunt and walked into the kitchen to tease Aya, but instead he noticed a newer mark on Aya's neck, his face more pale than usual. It was actually rather noticable, because it was fresh, the dried blood indicating that it was definitely newer.  
"What happened to you?" he questioned, staring curiously at the wound, taking Aya's hesitation as an opportunity to look closer. It was pretty obvious that he had forgotten about the mark because he swiftly moved his hand to cover it, the look in his eyes immeditely regretful.

"Just... nothing" Aya said, wanting to slap himself for forgetting about the knife that had been held to his throat. He could think of nothing to say other than that. He was just too tired to be dealing with this "In the alley..." Aya started, but was interrupted.

"It isn't though. I'm... we're worried about you" Yohji said, looking at the ground. "I can't help but think… that one day you're going to die… or… or disappear on us. And dammit, it hurts! I… I don't think I could handle that." The last was barely a whisper.

For a too brief moment, Yohji saw emotions swim through Aya's eyes, something along the lines of confusion and sorrow, he figured. Then, the amethyst orbs closed as Aya walked the best he could towards the steps; perhaps walking around town wasn't the best way to heal. He felt very tired after his encounter, but also tired towards Yohji's emotions "You would be without another teammate is all" He stated quietly, grabbing the railing, about to go up.

"Is that what you really think?" Yohji demanded, angry now. "You really think that's all I... we care about?! After all we have been through? After Omi?!" Yohji remembered the death of Omi, and he remembered that all of them, him, Ken, and Aya took it pretty rough. Yohji guessed that Aya felt like he had failed Omi.

"I don't care what you think or care about," Aya responded coolly, fixing Yohji with an icy glare as his headache intensified. Yet, this was different somehow; something he had never seen on Aya's features before. His eyes were dull, lacking the spark that shone in them when he was truly angry. Now, they were glassy, unseeing and uncaring. The emptiness reflected there scared Yohji more than the redhead's wrath ever had, which is saying a lot. Aren't the eyes the window to the soul? At least anger was something, heat and passion even. He always admired that in Aya. This nothingness just left Yohji feeling cold. He shivered in the face of it, suddenly feeling angry himself.

"Oh yeah, Ran, that's really cool of you." Yohji's fists were clenched in anger. "Mr. Cold-as-ice doesn't give a crap about anything! I forgot all about that! Because Ran, that would make you feel, wouldn't it? And that's too much trouble for someone like you, isn't it?" Aya's birth name slipped out of his mouth, but there was no taking it back now. Yohji felt pride in his come back.... Him and Aya had gotten into plenty of bickers during their days working together, and Yohji hated to admit it, but he LIKED them. Well, usually he liked them... this time, however, was a bit more personal. 'That got him going' Yohji thought when he saw Aya stop and clench his own fist. Now was usually the time that Aya glared at him, returning to his own room. Yohji didn't quite expect what happened next.

Aya snapped around, looking murderous, but also a tiny bit hurt if you knew where to look for it. He looked quite a bit more youthful in this state, although the weariness was aparent on his features. "You..." Aya started, but stopped there, turning back around and continuing up the steps.

Yohji was silent as he watched Aya disappear. He was already regretting what he had said. That wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting at all! Wanting to apologize, he raced up the stairs and jumped in front of his friend.

"Look Aya..." Yohji began as he looked at Aya. Aya still had that dead look about him and Yohji shivered again. "Aya, I'm sorry.. I just... " Yohji said, kicking himself and wishing more than anything that he could rewind and start the conversation in the kitchen over again.  
"It's fine," Aya said, closing his eyes and looking a little irritated as he continued walking, going around Yohji. "Besides..." he said as he opened his bedroom door with his good arm, "you're right" he said vacantly as he shut his door behind him.

Yohji stood there gaping in complete surprise. Aya had been surprising him a lot lately, it seemed.


	5. Pete

The next day, Yohji awoke and found Ken hunkered over a cup of coffee, looking like he drank a bit too much. Yohji couldn't help but smile a little at that thought, but reached for the pot of coffee for himself, but for entirely different reasons. How well would you sleep if you had a conversation like that the night before?

"Goodmorning Ken-chan! You look like a ray of sunshine this morning" said Yohji, receiving a snear from Ken. "How in the hell are you so chipper?" Ken said, sipping his coffee as Yohji sat down next to him "You are even dressed and fuctional".  
"I have had a lot of practice, what can I say?" Yohji said in turn, sipping his coffee now as well.

Ken looked at him, unphased, and then suddenly looked like he remembered something "Oh yeah, by the way, that guy who gives us our missons is stopping by sometime early this evening" Ken said, taking another sip before continuing "Said that it was 'really important'".  
"Oh boy!" Yohji said, faking enthusiasiam "I hope if it is a mission that he remembers that Aya is out of commission".  
"Who knows?" Ken said in turn "He did say to make sure everyone was there.. maybe just a follow up?"  
"Does Aya know?"  
"Yeah, I told him before he left this morning... he seemed to be pretty intent on getting out of here" Ken said, yawning.  
"Hmm" Yohji said, as he sipped his coffee, trying not to think on last nights events.

"Something happen to him?" Ken said, glancing at Yohji, and although he tried to hide it, he knew that Ken could see through him; he always had that ability "Aya seemed, what's a good way to put it?" Ken thought "Un-Aya like"  
"How so?" Yohji inquired, curious as to how their conversation effected him.  
"He seemed really out of it" Ken said, sipping his coffee again, as his eyebrow furrowed "I mean, if I got mauled by a bunch of smelly dead people, I guess I would be pretty out of it, too, but he just isn't looking so hot" Ken said "Lanky and spaced out".

Yohji sighed, nursing his coffee cup, deciding not to give full details, but to keep Ken in the loop "He came in last night, I was drunk... we had words" Yohji said, there being a moment of silence after that. "I'm kind of worried about him, Ken-ken" Yohji said "Loosing one of you.. I... I don't know if I could handle that". Whew! Yohji felt an instant relief at getting that out of his system. Ken looked at him, then back at his cup "Just give it some time, Yohji-kun.. he'll snap out of it" Ken said, smiling his contagious smile at Yohji "It's Aya-kun, right? Our fearless leader".  
Yohji smiled himself "Yeah, I guess you're right" He said, feeling suddenly better.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

  
The person that briefed them on missions was a crude seeming guy. They didn't know his name, heck, they didn't even know his code name, but he was a scary seeming guy, almost like a Yakuza, minus the tattoos. His hair was dyed a horrible bright blonde color, which definitely didn't go well with his skin. Yohji and Ken sat while the man, whom Ken and Yohji always called 'Pete', stood there, looking frustrated "Usually Abyssinian is the one I can count on" Pete said "Any idea on where he is?"

Yohji and Ken both shrugged comicly "Who knows" Yohji said, just as they all heard the door upstairs open, and finally footsteps assending down.

Aya's form appeared in the door way, and Yohji was immeditely shocked at his appearence 'Did he even sleep last night?', and he was even still wearing his glasses. "Sorry" Aya said cooly, Pete nodding "Glad you could join us Abyssinian" Pete said in his deep voice as Aya sat down by Ken and Yohji. "I'll cut right to the chase" Pete said, glancing at everyone, but holding gazes with Aya "Come to find out that Schwartz are directly connected to the boys whose warehouse you busted" Pete said, "Turns out they were hired directly from the boss himself to protect him, at least at some point".

Aya nodded, looking suddenly like a weight was lifted "Are they currently involved?" Aya said, all serious, but his mouth feeling a little dry. Pete answered "We are unsure of that" He said "Since you didn't have a run in with them at the warehouse" Pete said, sitting down himself now "We think that Farfarello and Schuldig died not long after Bombay's demise".  
Aya closed his eyes cooly, shaking his head "Schuldig is alive, at least"

Ken and Yohji both turned their heads towards Aya "It's been" Ken thought "A year and half at least since we have seen them".

"You know this for certain" Pete said, gazing at Aya.

Aya nodded, looking at him like someone who was giving information that wasn't THAT big of a deal as he pulled a manilla folder out of his jacket pocket, putting it on the table "I had a run in with Schuldig in an alley last night" Aya said "He gave me this, saying that it would help us with our current case".

Pete picked up the folder, immeditely scanning through it "Have you had time to verify the information?"

Aya nodded "Today, yes" He said "There is a building on the outskirts of town, and the address checks out" Aya said "As well as it being used by a company that excells in making money and always avoiding the law" Aya continued "The man in the folder, Dr. Mokata, has won various awards for breakthrough chemical research, from vaccinations to cancer support".

"We have gone through some of the papers that you 3 retrieved from the warehouse" Pete said looking to be deep in thought "It would seem that we are dealing with a virus"

"Like the flu?" Ken said "A little bit, but this virus enters a persons system, most likely through injection" continuing, Pete had a look of concern "They are only notes of someone that are incomplete, however" he said "When it enters the system, the process is slow, but it attacks the blood cells, eventually reaching the brain... It attacks the system until the individual dies".  
"Is it contagious?" Aya inquired, "From what I can tell, yes" Pete said "If it should come into contact with your system, say through your mouth, blood" Pete said "It will pass the virus... but that is only going by the notes of, I assume at least, the people that you took out".

How in the world did he get that information from all of those scibbles and coded words? It blew Yohji's mind.

More importantly, however.... why in the hell didn't Aya tell him last night that he had a run in with Schuldig? He felt angry, and after looking over at Ken, saw that he seemed a little angry, too.

"This is serious" Pete said, looking towards Yohji and Ken "I want you 2 to keep survailence on the main building at this address" Pete said, handing them an envelope. "Especially keep an eye on the boss and his actions, but also the underlings that were pictured from the last mission".  
Yohji and Ken nodded.

Pete then looked towards Aya "Your condition is unfortunate.... however, I want you to spy on this Dr. Mokata".  
Yohji and Ken looked at each other "No way! What if something happens? His condition is.." Ken started, interrupted "None of your concern, Siberian" Pete said sternly "It is just observation, and we need whatever information we can get our hands on at the moment".  
'Oh yeah! Because Aya-kun is REALLY good at not acting when an opportunity presents itself' Yohji thought, but didn't voice this... he could tell that Ken thought the same thing, though. Glancing at Aya, he saw nothing out of the ordinary on his features.

"Start tonight" Pete said, "Any information needs to get to us right away, even if it seems simple and unimportant".

 

  
After Pete had finally left, Aya was met with equal burning gazes. "What the hell?!?!" Ken said, beating him to the punch, and Yohji saw Aya shift back slightly, almost comicly. It was then that Ken literally ran up to Aya and gave him a swift punch to the cheek. That DEFINITELY had to hurt, but Aya just glared, his cheek looking like it was going to have a pretty hefty bruise.

"You mean to tell me Schuldig paid you a little visit and you didn't think to tell us?!" Ken yelled.

Aya looked surprised at those words as a heavy silence hung between the 3 of them.

"Last night" Aya said, breaking the silence as he looked at Yohji and Ken "I don't think he was able to read my mind as he usually can" but then as Aya continued thinking, he added "But as he was trying, it was painful... almost like someone stomping on your head".  
"That's odd" Yohji said, watching as Ken grabbed Aya by his shirt "I don't care about any of that, but next time something like this happens, you BETTER fucking tell us! We need to be made aware! Fuck man, what would happen if he killed you, huh?"

"Right, right" Yohji said, separating Ken and Aya, but looking directly into Aya's intense eyes. They already had this conversation, last night actually. Ken was huffing about, while Aya stood there "S-sorry" Aya said, suddenly solemn, Ken freezing, as well as Yohji. "My intentions were not to make you angry" He said, looking to the side, but then at Yohji  "I was going to tell you, last night... but then we got into the argument".

_~"Just... nothing" Aya said..... "In the alley..."_

_"I had a run in with Schuldig in an alley last night"~_

Yohji's eyes widened as he remembered their argument from last night, and the words at the meeting today. Yohji grinned sheepishly "I guess I owe you an apology as well".  
Aya shook his head "Nonsense" he said simply "We better get ready" Aya said simply, walking up the steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any errors, I apologize! I looked it over the best I can, but sometimes things can slip past! For now, this is what I have to post. I am currently brainstorming on the next piece. Comments and criticism is greatly appreciated. Even suggestions are more than welcome at this point, I love a good place to start an idea B)

**Author's Note:**

> I had wonderful Beta help years ago from a person named Blythe. I have since altered the story a bit, however, I definitely plan to keep it this way thus far. I have a little more than this finished, however, I am still in the process of getting everything ironed out in my head, so please be patient! :) Writing fanfiction with little ones running around is a little difficult!


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